As far as is known, Argentina’s ambassador designate to Israel, Shimon Axel Wahnish is the first ambassador who is also an ordained rabbi.
He has been in the country since May but has yet to present his credentials to President Isaac Herzog, although he has met with him since and prior to his arrival. Wahnish accompanied President Javier Milei to Israel during the latter’s visit in February.
Prior to taking office in December last year, Milei announced that if elected, he would transfer his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.
That pledge is currently on hold, but the Argentine ambassador’s residence will be in Jerusalem, and senior embassy personnel are currently examining possibilities in Rehavia, Talbiyeh, the German Colony, and the center of town.
Luxury apartment buildings on the edge of Independence Park and in the capital’s main thoroughfare Jaffa Road are in the process of completion, or have been completed in the past five years, so there should be little difficulty in finding suitable premises, as long as they are within the Green Line.
That may even prevent Wahnish from visiting the Old City and the Western Wall. This self-imposed prohibition is practiced by ambassadors from Muslim-majority countries.
Although he may refrain from praying at the Western Wall, if the Argentine residence is located in any of the above-mentioned areas, Wahnish will have a wide choice of synagogues within easy walking distance, and he can visit a different one every week.
US politics
■ IT WAS a slow news day last Wednesday, other than the terrorist attack in Karmiel, and The New York Times reported that US President Joe Biden was weighing the possibility of not running for a second term plus the fact that he will be meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter visits the US at the end of this month.
Thus, the Israeli media, which seldom gives much if any coverage to large-scale donations to Israeli institutions and organizations, was lavish in reporting the handsome gift by mega-donor Miriam Adelson to United Hatzalah.
Other than on Israel Independence Day, it is not customary to hold ceremonies in the vicinity of Herzl’s tomb. The surrounding area is, after all, a cemetery, and not a site for ceremonial events.
Then again, the tomb of the Zionist visionary is probably the most appropriate place in which to honor the person who has arguably given the most money to support Zionist causes and continues to do so.
Dr. Miriam Adelson and her late husband casino mogul Sheldon Adelson dave donated multi-millions of dollars to Yad Vashem, Birthright, and various health, educational, scientific, and cultural organizations and institutions in Israel, and that generosity has increased since October 7, with the inauguration of a new United Hatzalah fleet of 76 ambucycles, emergency vehicles, and a bullet-proof ambulance.
The fleet was dedicated in memory of fallen soldiers and medical volunteers. The upgraded ambulance which will operate in the Hebron area, hinting largely at Adelson’s political affiliations.
It is not unusual for supporters of United Hatzalah to donate two or three ambucycles, but the cost of 76 is quite staggering. Given that number and the site of the ceremony, the gift is indicative of Zionism.
This is the 76th anniversary year of the realization of Herzl’s vision with the establishment of the State of Israel. Adelson’s birthday, October 10, will never be the same after October 7.
In the US, there has been much media coverage of the $100 million plus that she intends to plow into the election campaign of former US President Donald Trump.
Her husband was one of the top donors to Republican Party election campaigns, and she is keeping up the tradition.
Among the large crowd attending the dedication ceremony were UH founder and president Eli Beer, as well as Adelson and her sons Adam Adelson and Matan Adelson, Health Minister Uriel Busso, and chairman of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) Yaakov Hagoel.
Going backwards?
■ THE WAR is far from over, but rumors are already circulating about a return to issues that occupied the nation prior to October 7.
There is more than a little talk about reviving the campaign for judicial reform; giving Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara her marching orders; confiscating Palestinian-owned land in order to build more Jewish settlements; and closing down public broadcasting.
Where are the priorities of this government? While it seems that the bulk of the world is turning politically Right, this should not be at the expense of human life, ethics, morality, decency, democracy, and freedom of expression.
Instead of trying to get rid of the attorney-general, the government should be proud of the fact that it has an A-G with a strong backbone, who is not afraid to oppose the government when she thinks that its decisions border on the illegal.
Proposed judicial reform created an enormous rift in the nation that sometimes generated family feuds, not to mention police violence.
When tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and Palestinians are being harassed and attacked by Jewish terrorists who are also destroying Palestinian crops, it is hardly the time to appropriate Palestinian-owned land in order to create new homes for West Bank settlers.
Aside from the immorality of it, think of what it does to Israel’s image in the world – particularly the Jewish world.
Without the support of the Jewish Diaspora, Israel is going to have a tough time developing, but Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich doesn’t seem to care.
From the moment that he was given a ministerial portfolio, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has been trying to shut down public broadcasting, which is doing such a superb job in providing a platform for close relatives of hostages and fallen soldiers so that their names and memories can be brought to the attention of the widest possible public.
Public Broadcasting also provides a semblance of transparency for the government. Reporters Gili Cohen, Suleiman Maswada, Yoav Krakowski and Michael Shemesh share political information and insights not always heard from reporters working for commercial media outlets.
And when it comes to empathizing with bereaved parents and siblings or with families of the hostages, few people do better than Yair Weinreb and Kobi Barkai.
People such as Karhi, Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rotman are collectively destroying what is left of the national comfort zone.
Stronger than ever
■ WHILE THE cost of living continues to soar, the people bearing the brunt are the IDF reservists, especially those from the National Zionist movements whose religious studies and observance have not been negatively impacted by their army service. If anything, they have become stronger, more idealistic and more ideological.
The large number of casualties from their midst has not diminished the sense of national and religious patriotism. Be that as it may, even those who are not killed or wounded pay a very heavy price.
In a double page spread that Yediot Aharonot devoted to religious reservists, one of the people featured was Yoni Sadeh, a 42-year-old psychotherapist from Bat Ayin.
He and his wife Lital have ten children aged from 21 to two years. Sadeh received an emergency call-up notice on October 7, and after serving for 157 consecutive days, was called up again for 12 days.
Due to the shortage in manpower, he anticipates being called yet again. His eldest son Uriah is a combat soldier in the Kfir Brigade and his second son Eliya, 19, is currently in a hesder yeshiva and preparing for army duty next year.
The facial expressions and body language in a family photograph that was published, showed that this is a close-knit, united and loving clan.
Sadeh worries not only about his children and his own safety, but also about his patients.
He holds down two jobs: He is a partner in a clinic and also works as a salaried employee elsewhere. He fears that the mental health of his patients may have deteriorated in his absence. He hasn’t earned any money worth talking about in a period of nine months, and government promises about compensatory grants have not materialized.
Journalism at its finest
■ INTREPID JOURNALIST Itai Anghel, who is a staff reporter for the Channel 12 investigative program Uvda (Fact), will be giving a personal talk at the HOT Cinema in the Big Ofer Mall in Petach Tikva on Sunday, July 7.
Anghel is also a documentary filmmaker and a university lecturer, teaching a course on world conflicts at Tel Aviv University. He specializes in covering frontline events in conflict zones, and has been in some of the most dangerous spots on earth.
Like several other Israeli journalists, he has reported on the war in Ukraine, but closer to home has been to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Following his interaction with the audience, there will be the screening of a fascinating new documentary, The Commandant’s Shadow, which was inspired by The Zone of Interest.
Written and directed by Daniella Volker, it tells the story of how prominent cellist and Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker Wallfish reacts when Hans Jurgen Hoss, the son of the notorious commandant of Auschwitz walks into her home 80 years after the war.
He is appalled by his father’s history, and has erased a few things from his mind, even when visiting Auschwitz where he spent part of his childhood in what had been an idyllic environment, albeit not very far from the gas chambers.
It’s amazing how many heartless Nazis were ideal fathers and husbands.
One of the commandant’s grandsons, who is far removed from his racist grandfather, is shown at a dais saying: “It’s a fact. My grandfather was the greatest mass murderer in human history.”
In a conversation with Hans Jurgen and his daughter, Lasker Wallfish remarks: “It’s not what we’ve done, but what we are doing now.” For people who are making comparisons between the Holocaust and October 7, her words are worth hearing.
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